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Measuring inclusion in your work

It’s hard to look back at work you’re proud of and admit that it’s not good enough. But the first step in making real progress towards authentically inclusive work is understanding where you currently stand.

Our learnings

A few years ago, we began auditing Google’s creative work to understand how we’re doing on inclusion and representation in our marketing. The resulting insights have helped us celebrate progress over the years, set annual goals, and identify opportunities for work that authentically represents the world. Each year, we apply these principles to complete a creative audit of our own work. Here are some of the top findings from our most recent audits.

2018-2021 Creative Audits

Google Marketing 2018-2021 Creative Audits

Each year, we conduct thousands of evaluations of Google’s marketing assets with the help of external evaluators and machine learning tools. Together, these evaluations form the basis of our creative audit. Ever since we began auditing our campaigns from 2018, we have adjusted the approach to focus on our most impactful work. The findings below are just a selection of the inclusion metrics and trends that we track across our marketing campaigns.

Our representation of Asian communities continues to surpass benchmarks.

Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 8% of our ads included Asian people, in 2019: 12% of our ads included Asian people, in 2020: 14% of our ads included Asian people, and in 2021: 15% of our ads included Asian people. Text stating that 5.9% of the U.S. population identifies as Asian.

2021 Key Insight

Most Asian people in our ads are perceived to be East Asian, so we have work to do to include all Asian communities.

of the U.S. population identifies as Asian American

Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 8% of our ads included Asian people, in 2019: 12% of our ads included Asian people, in 2020: 14% of our ads included Asian people, and in 2021: 15% of our ads included Asian people. Text stating that 5.9% of the U.S. population identifies as Asian.

2021 Key Insight

Most Asian people in our ads are perceived to be East Asian, so we have work to do to include all Asian communities.

of the U.S. population identifies as Asian American

Black representation is thoughtful and strong.

Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 23% of our ads included Black people, in 2019: 32% of our ads included Black people, in 2020: 20% of our ads included Black people, and in 2021: 35% of our ads included Black people. Text stating that 13.4% of the U.S. population identifies as Black or African American.

2021 Key Insight

Black representation is consistently thoughtful, expanding beyond stereotypical portrayals of dancing, music, and sports.

of the U.S. population identifies as Black or African American

Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 23% of our ads included Black people, in 2019: 32% of our ads included Black people, in 2020: 20% of our ads included Black people, and in 2021: 35% of our ads included Black people. Text stating that 13.4% of the U.S. population identifies as Black or African American.

2021 Key Insight

Black representation is consistently thoughtful, expanding beyond stereotypical portrayals of dancing, music, and sports.

of the U.S. population identifies as Black or African American

We need to further amplify Indigenous stories.

Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 0.2% of our ads included Indigenous people, in 2019: 0.1% of our ads included Indigenous people, in 2020: 0.2% of our ads included Indigenous people, and in 2021: 0.8% of our ads included Indigenous people. Text stating that 1.3% of the U.S. population identifies as American Indian/Native American and Alaska Native.

2021 Key Insight

We need to prioritize more prominent and thoughtful portrayals of Indigenous people to reach U.S. population demographic levels.
Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 0.2% of our ads included Indigenous people, in 2019: 0.1% of our ads included Indigenous people, in 2020: 0.2% of our ads included Indigenous people, and in 2021: 0.8% of our ads included Indigenous people. Text stating that 1.3% of the U.S. population identifies as American Indian/Native American and Alaska Native.

of the U.S. population identifies as American Indian/Native American and Alaska Native

2021 Key Insight

We need to prioritize more prominent and thoughtful portrayals of Indigenous people to reach U.S. population demographic levels.

Our representation of Latinos/Latinx people is trending upwards.

Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 4% of our ads included Latinos/Latinx people, in 2019: 6% of our ads included Latinos/Latinx people, in 2020: 6% of our ads included Latinos/Latinx people, and in 2021: 10% of our ads included Latinos/Latinx people. Text stating that 18.5% of the U.S. population identifies as Hispanic or Latino.

2021 Key Insight

While we still need more Latino/Latinx representation, we've dramatically decreased the presence of key stereotypes in our work featuring these communities.
Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 4% of our ads included Latinos/Latinx people, in 2019: 6% of our ads included Latinos/Latinx people, in 2020: 6% of our ads included Latinos/Latinx people, and in 2021: 10% of our ads included Latinos/Latinx people. Text stating that 18.5% of the U.S. population identifies as Hispanic or Latino.

of the U.S. population identifies as Hispanic or Latino

2021 Key Insight

While we still need more Latino/Latinx representation, we've dramatically decreased the presence of key stereotypes in our work featuring these communities.

We are portraying more LGBTQ+ stories than ever.

Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 3% of our ads included people perceived to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, in 2019: 1% of our ads included people perceived to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, in 2020: 1.5% of our ads included people perceived to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, and in 2021: 6% of our ads included people perceived to be part of the LGBTQ+ community. Text stating that 7.1% of U.S. adults self-identify as LGBTQ+.

2021 Key Insight

More than 3/4 of portrayals convey LGBTQ+ representation without relying on Pride symbols.
Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 3% of our ads included people perceived to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, in 2019: 1% of our ads included people perceived to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, in 2020: 1.5% of our ads included people perceived to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, and in 2021: 6% of our ads included people perceived to be part of the LGBTQ+ community. Text stating that 7.1% of U.S. adults self-identify as LGBTQ+.

of U.S. adults self-identify as LGBTQ+

2021 Key Insight

More than 3/4 of portrayals convey LGBTQ+ representation without relying on Pride symbols.

We are making progress at including people with disabilities, but still have more room to grow.

Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 3% of our ads included people perceived to have an apparent disability, in 2019: 1% of our ads included people perceived to have an apparent disability, in 2020: 1% of our ads included people perceived to have an apparent disability, and in 2021: 6% of our ads included people perceived to have an apparent disability. Text stating that 15% of the world’s population experiences some form of disability.

2021 Key Insight

While we still tend to over-index on portrayals of people who use wheelchairs, we have dramatically decreased the presence of other disability stereotypes in our work.
Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: 3% of our ads included people perceived to have an apparent disability, in 2019: 1% of our ads included people perceived to have an apparent disability, in 2020: 1% of our ads included people perceived to have an apparent disability, and in 2021: 6% of our ads included people perceived to have an apparent disability. Text stating that 15% of the world’s population experiences some form of disability.

of the world's population experiences some from of disability

2021 Key Insight

While we still tend to over-index on portrayals of people who use wheelchairs, we have dramatically decreased the presence of other disability stereotypes in our work.

Women are included in the majority of our ads and now have a nearly equal share of speaking time.

Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: women had 47% of the speaking time in our video ads, in 2019: women had 43% of the speaking time in our video ads, in 2020: women had 46% of the speaking time in our video ads, and in 2021: women had 49% of the speaking time in our video ads. Text stating that 50.8% of the U.S. population identifies as Female.

2021 Key Insight

Over 67% of our ads include women and nearly all of them avoid key stereotypes.
Four bar graphs showing that in 2018: women had 47% of the speaking time in our video ads, in 2019: women had 43% of the speaking time in our video ads, in 2020: women had 46% of the speaking time in our video ads, and in 2021: women had 49% of the speaking time in our video ads. Text stating that 50.8% of the U.S. population identifies as Female.

of the U.S. population identifies as Female

2021 Key Insight

Over 67% of our ads include women and nearly all of them avoid key stereotypes.

Learn more about our audit rubric and methodology.

Create a rubric

A simple rubric can help you measure and understand who's being represented and how well they're being portrayed in your work. Currently, the stereotypes we look for and demographic benchmarks we use are U.S.-centric, so our audits cover creative that ran in the U.S. only. However, we’ve tested and used this methodology at a smaller scale in other regions.

  • Prioritize key dimensions of inclusion relevant to your market. Our audits consider age, disability, gender, LGBTQ+ identity, military status, race/ethnicity, skin tone, and socioeconomic status. See below for more details.
  • Identify room for improvement using both qualitative and quantitative measurements (e.g., what percentage of our assets contain portrayals of Latinos, and which stereotypes of Latinos show up in our work?).
  • Plan to assess how different dimensions intersect with each other (e.g., skin tone and gender, or age and race).
  • Review your rubric with diverse audiences with different perspectives to make sure you haven’t overlooked anything.

Dimensions we look for in our creative audits

  • Note that these dimensions are not intended to be fully inclusive of all possible identities. A limited set of dimensions were chosen to support measuring representation at scale. We also acknowledge that many dimensions of identity are not visible to others. Our goal is to gain a clearer understanding of whether our intent to be inclusive is perceived by others through the work we create.
  • Age: Perceived presence of people in the age groups of children, teens, young adults, adults, and older adults.
  • Disability: Perceived presence and representation of people with various types of apparent and non-apparent disabilities.
  • Gender: Perceived presence and representation of women, men, and gender expansive individuals.
  • LGBTQ+: Perceived presence and representation of LGBTQ+ people (with the understanding that LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning or queer).
  • Military status: Perceived presence of veterans or people who are serving in the military.
  • Race and ethnicity: Perceived presence and representation of Asian, Black, Indigenous, Latino/Latinx, or white people.
  • Skin tone: Perceived presence of a diverse spectrum of skin tones from dark to light. At a minimum, we recommend covering the spectrum of dark skin tones to light skin tones on a 6-point scale.
  • Socioeconomic status: Perceived presence of low-income, middle-income, and high-income socioeconomic categories.

Review your work

When it comes to evaluating work, choosing the right reviewers is as important as establishing the set of criteria.

  • Partner with trained evaluators who will review and rate your existing and recent creative work based on your rubric.
  • Partner with expert researchers from institutes or non-profits. We’ve partnered with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to evaluate assets from many campaigns. You can also look into ANA’s #SeeHer Gender Equality Measure (GEM) and AIMM’s Cultural Insights Impact Measure (CIIM™). GEM is the global industry standard for measuring gender bias in ads and programming, while CIIM™ provides measurement and data on the impact and effectiveness of cultural insights in ads and programming.
  • To better understand four of the leading measurement systems for culture/gender portrayals in creative content, check out this Diversity Measurement Matrix created by AIMM, Geena Davis Institute, Unstereotype Alliance, and SeeHer.
  • Use public crowdsourcing tools to evaluate large sets of assets.
A grid of YouTube videos with different images of women

In 2017, we started to use Google’s machine learning tools to evaluate perceived gender and age representation in our own advertising. Recently, we partnered with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to publish The YouTube Ads Gender Representation Report that used machine learning to analyze millions of videos.

Take action

Once you've reviewed your creative, here are a few ways to take action:

  • Create new annual goals for representation and inclusion.
  • Update materials used in trainings and workshops with data and learnings from your audit so people are aware of any issues.
  • Inform creative reviews of upcoming campaigns and launches, and strive to fill gaps with future projects.

Consumer Insights

How inclusive ads are affecting consumer behaviour

Consumer Insights tile